Far Cry 2

The Good
I like that there's actually an ending in the game so it doesn't repeat itself more than it already does. Other than that, I don't like anything else.

The Bad
Those who cried about how Quake looked so brown, you will cry even more about this. There's is up to four shades of brown in this game. And some blue which comes from the sky.

All the missions are the same, go there, kill that, return. It's a long way to your mission. The enemies spawn way too fast. The weapons of the enemies never break when they use it but when you get it from them they do almost directly. Searching for diamonds is useless since the diamonds you find aren't worth a damn. The malaria feature is useless and always shows its symptoms when you're in a firefight.

The faction choosing is weird since you do one mission for one side and when you're done you can't go back so you must choose the other faction.

The Bottom Line
A loss for us veteran Far Cry fans, a punch in the groin and the face at the same time is too kind do describe how bad this game is.

The Good
I liked the idea behind the game. Unfortunately...

The Bad
... it just doesn't work.

From the absolutely horrible and most annoying rapidly re-spawning enemy AI ever to feature in a video game, the immersion breaking "town" which contains six mercenaries and a priest, the maze-like map and right down to stupid details like road signs coloring to indicate which path to take (as if the ever-present GPS and a detailed interactive map weren't enough). It just doesn't work.

The Bottom Line
Here's some selective commentary on the typical Far Cry 2 session.

You arrive back into the "town" and check the map for a triangle with an exclamation point (indicating quest givers). This will invariably be one of the two faction HQ's for the main missions. You arrive at the door and all your weapons are removed by the guard to prevent you from ending the game early, upon which you ascend the stairs and listen to the mission details. You then either accept or refuse, although you have to accept to progress in the game, making the choice rather pointless. The faction leader then gives you twenty diamonds and tells you that it's a super secret cover ops mission, so don't expect any helps from his troops. In fact, he says, they will actively engage you. This is in a way convenient since there's no way to distinguish, visually or otherwise, between the two sides anyway. There are no civilians whatsoever anyway.

You hoof it back to your vehicle or take a conveniently placed re-spawning town vehicle and immediately get a call from your best buddy to meet him in some safe house or another. You check the map. Oh great, your friend is on one side of the map, and the mission objective on the other? Oh well, lets go. Wow, this car sure feels like a spaceship. Is that a shack I see at the end of the bridge? Suddenly, machine gun fire everywhere. A second after you pass the checkpoint you're being pursued by an amazingly fast accelerating assault truck that's carrying a gunner who hits you with sniper-like accuracy with a heavy machine gun, all while speeding down Africa's dirt roads at 90 mph. The inhuman assault truck never ever gives up.

Okay, you made it to your friend's safe house at the other side of the map either by destroying five assault trucks or stalking through Africa walking or swimming. Your friend tells you how she would like you to alter your mission to suit her. Why exactly couldn't you have told me this over the phone?

Ten assault trucks later, you arrive at your mission objective. You snipe (sniping is easy, no bullet drop, perfect aim, always a kill) a few stupid enemies, throw a couple of grenades and it's over in a minute. After this pseudo-climax, you feel very empty and alone.

But wait, your friend calls you. She's in trouble just a bit off the objective. You rush to help her, kill a couple more stupid AIs and you're presented with a menu option "press X to medicate your best buddy" and "press Q to mercy kill your best buddy".

You press escape, click on Quit, click Quit in the main menu, confirm that yes, you do want to Quit and are thrown onto the desktop. You bask in the ineffable complexity of situations which bothered to publish this trash.

The Good
I loved the fact that it was set in Africa, and had a real African flavour. Thanks to the makers for consulting with Afrikaners and Zulus and using authentic voice overs.

Understanding the languages makes the speech so much more funny and interesting, and often I'd get shot up cos I couldn't stop laughing at the comments coming from the mercs!!

The sniper rifles were awesome and the being able to burn veld fires to chase and burn the peasants at road blocks was cool...

Graphics are beautiful and cover different ecosystems, that is forest, desert, lakes, Savannah.

Weapons are authentic (The AK47's shouldn't jam though) I enjoyed the fact that there was FAL Paratroop rifle (South African touch there) although a Paratroop rifle should have a shortened barrel and folding stock.

The Bad
The game gets a bit much having to drive endless km's shooting re spawning mercs at road blocks and often having to runaway by foot after your vehicle is destroyed!.

Missions that are kilometers away from the starting point are irritating, especially if it takes a few seconds to complete them and then in some cases having to return to the starting point, dodging shooting and driving over mercs in the process. Its get a bit much after a few missions.

The treasure hunt for cases is stupid and pointless, you climb mountains swim lakes etc.. to get a suitcase with just 1 diamond in it! you can't even buy a 9mm with that.

Came across some African Buffalo in the game, pity they didn't attack, you can walk up to them and literally pet them, i challenge anyone to do that in real life. Should have been able to exploit the wild game in the game, that is shoot Zebra, Wildebeest and Springbok for skins, for diamonds.. Earn diamonds from this. Why not! in war in Africa everything gets exploited especially the wildlife!, No elephants though, probably already been shot out by the waring clans.

The Bottom Line
Very original, fun to play, although it can become monotonous and boring at some stages with all the driving, running and swimming, it's simple, save the game and do something else and within a few hours you will be itching to put your hands on the Machine gun mounted on the jeep and shooting the #%#$^ out of another check point.